In the 96th staging of the Boys’ Amateur Championship Jack Murphy and Connor Graham topped the leaderboard on seven-under-par.
The Blairgowrie golfer got off to a great start with two birdies in his first three holes at Ganton and bounced back from a bogey at the 4th with an eagle three at the 9th. The 2022 R&A Junior Open champion ran into trouble on the 11th with a double bogey six and another shot was dropped at the 13th but he steadied the ship with a birdie at the 14th for a one-under-par round of 70.
First round leader Murphy battled his way to a two-over par 73 after recovering from a double bogey six at the 3rd and another at the 11th with birdies at the 8th, 9th and 13th. The Douglas golfer could afford a bogey at the last.
Frenchman Hugo Le Goff finished on four-under-par alongside Bulgaria’s Hristo Yanakiev and Oscar Bach of Norway. Kris Kim, from Walton Heath, finished a shot further back on three-under alongside Jorge Siyuan Hao of Spain, who was the leading qualifier in last year’s championship at Carnoustie.
Connor Graham, Blairgowrie said “I played solid for two days and I’m happy to move on to the match play. “I was probably more steady around Fulford, I made a few more mistakes today but I was pretty solid on both days.”
The match play draw and scoring for the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championships are available at www.randa.org.
Picture Credit – The R&A
